EMC has teamed up with its local partners to engage customers at the forthcoming show. The vendor has been reaping the benefit of a more storage conscious user community.

EMC has teamed up with its local partners to engage customers at the forthcoming show. The vendor has been reaping the benefit of a more storage conscious user community.

"Storage is a hot topic for local corporations, many of which are only now building their storage infrastructure," comments Mohammed Amin, general manager, Middle East & North Africa. "Other organisations are looking to consolidate their storage infrastructure," he adds.

There is a greater focus on storage management among local companies. Historically, companies in the local market have tended to buy more disks when they have reached the limit of their existing solution. But increasingly, companies are investing in software-based storage management solutions. "Companies are not just buying disks - there is a focus on management. The software side is growing," says Amin.

EMC isn't alone in its bid to capture the rapidly emerging storage market. Over the last 12 months, HP, IBM and Sun have all invested heavily to build their storage businesses in the local market. However, Amin is confident it will be able to deliver a competitive storage solution.

"HP and IBM are always going to bundle their storage solutions behind their servers. But we're competing very well with them. We haven't lost a major deal in the last six months. We're increasing our market share," he adds.